The present invention is directed to conference calling and in particular to systems and methods for participant-controlled conference calling.
In today""s business world, conferencing and meetings involving multiple participants are commonplace. Moreover, business people are often forced to work in teams, as each team member brings a different skill to the team. This fact, coupled with the globalization of business, necessitates that communications systems be able to accommodate multiple participants who may be at different physical locations, far apart from one another.
Electronic mail, or e-mail, is one solution to this problem. E-mail messages may be sent to one, some, or all members in a work group, allowing the work group dynamic to be customized to the task at hand. However, not all participants read their e-mail diligently or in a timely fashion. This often results in delays, as e-mail messages flow back and forth without immediate responses. Also, the quality of e-mail-based multi-party collaboration may result in an inferior work product as people tend to express their thoughts better orally than through written communications, and because the number of e-mail messages increases exponentially as the number of work group participants increases, as does the time spent writing, sending, receiving, and reading e-mail messages.
Business telephone conference calling systems, including video conferencing systems, do not suffer from the communication delays inherent in e-mail systems, as the conferences are in real time. However, like Internet chat rooms, there are no provisions for selective filtering of incoming communications on a per-user basis within the context of the teleconference, particularly as all communications are managed by a common mixer. Thus all participants may speak at the same time and all participants hear all of what is being said. Should two or more participants wish to conference privately, they must invite each other in front of all other participants, and, thus, participants are sometimes hesitant to do this as this is impolite. Similarly, two participants who are in the same room and wish to talk privately must leave the telephone conference and speak outside the conference or outside the range of the telephone. Again, this may be seen as impolite.
What is needed is a telephone conferencing system that allows multiple parties to simulate a conference room or work group environment within which each party controls who they speak with and who they listen to while maintaining the cohesiveness of the group dynamic.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved conference calling system in which each participant may individually control incoming audio streams from other participants, and in which participants may communicate with each other within the context of the conference call with some or a full degree of privacy.
There is thus provided, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a conferencing communication system, which includes a telephone conference permitting at least one participant listening to the telephone conference and at least one additional audio source at a first volume level. The participant is operative to semi-detach from the telephone conference, either receive of initiate a call to an external party while still being able to hear the telephone conference at a second volume level, communicate with the external party at a third volume level, and upon disconnecting from the external party, re-attach to the telephone conference at any of the volume levels and a fourth volume level.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the conferencing communication system includes a communications system.
In addition there is also provided, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a communications system, which includes at least one communications network; a plurality of communicators connectable to the at least one communications network, each of the communicators being operative to transmit, via the network, audio streams bound from any of the plurality of communicators; a plurality of mixers. Each of the mixer output associated with one of the communicators is operative to receive from the plurality of communicators a plurality of incoming streams bound from the communicators to the mixer and transmit any mixed combination of the incoming streams to the communicator associated with the mixer. The system also includes means for controlling any of the mixers to independently control a volume level of any of the incoming streams being mixed at any of the mixers to create the required mixed combination of the incoming streams.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the communicators include means for independently controlling any of the mixers. The communicators may also be a second system.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the communications system further includes a communications server. The server includes at least one interface to a communications network, the network being in communication with the communicators. The mixers are located within the server.
The communicators may also be a second system.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for controlling is operative to control an associated mixer of a first of the communicators to control the volume level of the incoming streams such that the first communicator receives the output stream from the associated mixer, the output being a mix of incoming streams from a second of the communicators at a first volume level and all other of the incoming streams at a second volume level.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for controlling is operative to control an associated mixer of a first of the communicators to control the volume level of the incoming streams such that the first communicator receives the output stream from the associated mixer, the output being a mix of incoming streams from a second of the communicators at a first volume level only.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for controlling is operative to control any of the mixers to control the volume level of the incoming streams such that any other of the communicators other than the first and second communicators do not receive the incoming from the first and second communicators.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second communicator only receives the incoming stream from the first communicator.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for controlling is operative to control any of the mixers to control the volume level of the incoming streams such that all of the communicators other than the second communicator receives the incoming streams from all of the communicators, and the second communicator only receives the incoming stream from the first communicator.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for controlling is operative to connect any of the plurality of communicators to already connected communicators.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mixer is operative to control the volume level of at least one additional incoming stream, according to the input level of any other incoming streams bound for the mixer. The volume level is set to a first volume level in the absence of any other of the incoming streams bound for the mixer, and the volume level is set to a second volume level in the presence of any other of the incoming streams bound for the mixer.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mixer is operative to separate any of the input audio streams into a plurality of frequencies and independently control a volume level of any of the frequencies.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the communications system further includes means for reestablishing a connection between one of the communicators connected to the system upon disconnection of the communicator from the system.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the commutations system further includes means for reestablishing a connection between one of the communicators connected to the system upon disconnection of the communicator from the system, the means for reestablishing using a list of caller IDs associated with the user of the communicator, such that the list of IDs may contain the caller ID and communicator type last used by all user prior to the disconnection.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, any of the mixers is operative to receive a text message and further includes means for converting the text message to an audio message. Also, any of the mixers is operative to receive a pointer to a list consisting of sets including pairs of pre-set text messages, their corresponding audio and graphic representations, such that the pre-recorded message is sent to the communicator and corresponding text message is sent to the controlling means.
Further, any of the mixers is operative to receive a pointer to the list and further includes means for converting the pre-set text message to an audio message and for converting a text message from the controlling means to an audio message. Furthermore, any of the mixers further includes means for converting any of the audio streams into a text message.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for controlling is operative to prevent an outgoing message from a first of the communicators from being received by any of the mixers. Further, the means for controlling is operative to prevent any of the incoming streams from being received by a first of the mixers, or prevent an outgoing message from a first of the communicators from being received by any of the mixers, and prevent any of the incoming streams from being received by a first of the mixers.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for controlling is operative to prevent any of the communicators from receiving an in-band audio signaling tone sent by any of the communicators.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, any of the mixers is operative to retransmit any of the previously-transmitted streams, and/or to retransmit any of the previously-transmitted streams concurrent with the any of the mixers currently transmitting any of the streams not previously transmitted.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, any of the streams are transmitted via any one of a group including voice over IP (VoIP) system, voice over DSL (VoDSL) system and voice over data.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the communicator is operative to cause the server to aurally provide an identification. The means for controlling is operative to provide the identification to the server upon entry of the identification at the means for controlling, and the server is operative to associate the communicator with the means for controlling using the identification.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for controlling is operative to cause the server to provide an identification. In this case, the communicator is operative to provide the identification to the server upon entry of the identification at the communicators and the server is operative to associate the communicator with the means for controlling using the identification.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for controlling is operative to cause the server to provide an identification. The means for controlling is operative to audibly provide in-band signals representing the identification to the communicator, the communicator is operative to provide the identification to the server, and the server is operative to associate the communicator with the means for controlling using the identification.
In addition, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the communications system further includes a plurality of microphones connected to one of the communicators, wherein at least one of the microphones is responsive to a far audio field and at least one of the microphones is responsive to a near audio field; and a plurality of Automatic Gain Controls (AGC) assembled with input circuitry of the communicator wherein each of the microphones is connected to a separate one of the AGCs, and wherein inputs from both microphones are added via one of the mixers to a microphone input of the communicator.
Alternatively, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the communications system further includes a plurality of microphones connected to one of the communicators, wherein at least two of the microphones receive audio input in a different frequency range, and wherein the means for controlling is operative to control the mixers to split the audio stream from the communicator into the different frequency ranges and control a volume level of each of the frequency ranges independently.
Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the system farther includes indication means for either of vocally and visually indicating to each user the status of any of the participants. Any of the mixers is operative to retransmit any of the previously-transmitted streams at a first retransmission speed concurrently with a currently-transmitted stream at a different speed than the first transmission speed.